Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device and a semiconductor device

ABSTRACT

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, has forming a gate insulating film over a surface of a substrate, eliminating a portion of the gate insulating film in a region, forming a gate electrode over the gate insulating film and a drain electrode on the region, implanting first impurities into the substrate using the gate electrode and the drain electrode as a mask, forming an insulating film to fill the space between the gate electrode and the drain electrode, and implanting second impurities into the substrate to form a source region using the gate electrode, the drain electrode and the insulating film as a mask.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 12/054,684, filed Mar. 25, 2008, which claims priority of Japan Patent Application 2007-080159, filed Mar. 26, 2007, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This technical field relates to a method of manufacturing a high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device and a structure of a high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device.

BACKGROUND

High breakdown-voltage semiconductor devices are expected to have excellent radio-frequency characteristics and high breakdown voltage of source/drain regions.

In such a high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device, when a voltage higher than a certain level is applied to a drain region, a large electric field occurs at the boundary between the drain region and a channel region, and junction breakdown occurs at the boundary. Therefore, a problem in increasing breakdown voltage is how to reduce an electric field produced at the boundary between the drain region and the channel region.

SUMMARY

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, has forming a gate insulating film over a surface of a substrate, eliminating a portion of the gate insulating film in a region, forming a gate electrode over the gate insulating film and a drain electrode on the region, implanting first impurities into the substrate using the gate electrode and the drain electrode as a mask, forming an insulating film to fill the space between the gate electrode and the drain electrode, and implanting second impurities into the substrate to form a source region using the gate electrode, the drain electrode and the insulating film as a mask.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a plan view of a high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 1B is a schematic sectional view of a principal portion of the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the first embodiment;

FIGS. 2A to 2D are schematic sectional views each showing a principal portion in a step for manufacturing the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the first embodiment;

FIGS. 3A to 3D are schematic sectional views each showing a principal portion in a step for manufacturing the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the first embodiment;

FIGS. 4A to 4C are schematic sectional views each showing a principal portion in a step for manufacturing the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a graph showing changes of the voltage between source and drain regions of the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6A is a plan view of a high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to a second embodiment; and

FIG. 6B is a schematic sectional view of a principal portion of the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the second embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A method of manufacturing a high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device and a structure of a high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device are described with reference to embodiments. However, the following embodiments are not limited to these embodiments.

First Embodiment

An n-type high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing an n-type high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to a first embodiment are described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. The semiconductor device and the method of manufacturing the semiconductor device according to the first embodiment are characterized in that a LDD region is formed in a self alignment manner with a gate electrode and a drain electrode.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are drawings each showing a principal portion of a semiconductor device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 1A is a plan view of a high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1A shows a high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device 100 including a gate electrode 4 a, a drain electrode 6 a, an insulating film 7 a constituting a first sidewall spacer, an insulating film 7 b constituting a second sidewall spacer, a source region 8 a, contact plugs 20 a for connecting wiring to the source region, contact plugs 20 b for connecting wiring to the drain region, and a contact plug 20 c for connecting wiring to the gate electrode 4 a. Also, a silicide layer 9 and an interlayer insulating film are formed on the surfaces of the gate electrode 4 a, the drain electrode 6 a, and the source region 8 a.

The gate electrode 4 a, the drain electrode 6 a, and the source region 8 a are formed by implanting a high concentration of conductive impurities into silicon. Specifically, phosphorus ions are implanted into the gate electrode 4 a, the drain electrode 6 a, and the source region 8 a at a phosphorus concentration of, for example, 5.0×10²⁰ cm⁻³. The insulating film 7 a constituting the first sidewall spacer and the insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer are insulative and are composed of, for example, silicon oxide. The contact plugs 20 a for connecting wiring to the source region 8 a, the contact plugs 20 b for connecting wiring to the drain electrode 6 a, and the contact plug 20 c for connecting wiring to the gate electrode 4 a are composed of tungsten and are electrically connected to the source region 8 a, the drain electrode 6 a, and the gate electrode 4 a, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the drain electrode 6 a is formed on one of the sides of the gate electrode 4 a on a substrate. The source region 8 a is formed on the other side of the gate electrode 4 a within the substrate. The insulating film 7 a constituting the first sidewall spacer and the insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer are formed around the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a. Further, an element separation region 12 is formed around the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device 100.

FIG. 1B is a schematic sectional view showing a principal portion of a first example of the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1B is a sectional view of the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device 100, taken along line X-X′ in FIG. 1A. The high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device 100 includes a p-type silicon substrate 1, a p-type well region 2 a, a gate insulating film 3, the gate electrode 4 a, a n-type drain region 5 a, the drain electrode 6 a, the insulating film 7 a constituting the first sidewall spacer, the insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer, the n-type source region 8 a, the cobalt silicide layer 9, and the element separation region 12. In FIG. 1B, the completely same components as in FIG. 1A are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The substrate 1 is a p-type silicon substrate having a p-type impurity concentration of, for example, 1.0×10¹⁵ cm⁻³. The element separation region 12 has a shallow trench isolation structure. The p-type well region 2 a is formed by implanting boron ions into the substrate 1. The p-type well region 2 a has a boron concentration of, for example, 1.0×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ and a depth of 350 nm. The gate insulating film 3 is composed of silicon oxide and formed over the substrate 1. The thickness of the gate insulating film 3 is, for example, 6 nm. The gate electrode 4 a is formed over the surface of the gate insulating film 3, and the drain region 5 a is formed on one of the sides of the gate electrode 4 a within the substrate 1. The drain region 5 a is doped with phosphorus ions implanted as n-type conductive impurities at a low concentration. A region in which a low concentration of conductive impurities is diffused is referred to as a “Lightly Doped Drain (LDD) region”. The drain region 5 a has a phosphorus concentration of 1.0×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ and a depth of 50 nm. The drain electrode 6 a is connected to the drain region 5 a and an impurity diffusion layer 6 b is formed by inwardly diffusing first impurities or second impurities, which are implanted into the drain electrode 6 a, from the surface of the substrate 1. The insulating film 7 a constituting the first sidewall spacer is formed on the source region-side sidewall of the gate electrode 4 a. The insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer is formed on the drain-side sidewall of the gate electrode 4 a to fill the space between the drain electrode 6 a and the gate electrode 4 a. The source region 8 a is formed on the other side of the gate electrode 4 a within the substrate 1. The silicide layer 9 is composed of low-resistance phase cobalt silicide. The silicide layer 9 is formed on the surfaces of the source region 8 a, the gate electrode 4 a, and the drain electrode 6 a.

A process for manufacturing the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the first embodiment is described with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2D, 3A to 3D, and 4A to 4C.

FIG. 2A is a schematic sectional view of a principal portion in the step of preparing the substrate. FIG. 2A shows the substrate 1, the p-type well region 2 a, and the element separation region 12. The substrate 1 is a p-type silicon substrate having a p-type impurity concentration of, for example, 1.0×10¹⁵ cm⁻³. The element separation region 12 has a shallow trench isolation structure and is formed by implanting boron ions into the substrate 1. The p-type well region 2 a has a boron concentration of, for example, 1.0×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ and a depth of 350 nm.

FIG. 2B is a schematic sectional view showing the principal portion in the step of forming the gate insulating film 3 over the surface of the substrate. FIG. 2B shows the gate insulating film 3 in addition to FIG. 2A. The gate insulating film 3 is composed of silicon oxide.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the surface of the substrate 1 is thermally oxidized to form the gate insulating film 3 having a thickness of, for example, 6 nm on the surface of the substrate 1.

FIG. 2C is an enlarged sectional view showing the principal portion in the step of eliminating (etching out) a portion with a width of about 300 nm from the gate insulating film 3 in a region where the drain electrode is to be formed.

FIG. 2D is an enlarged sectional view showing the principal portion in the step of depositing polysilicon 16 over the surfaces of the substrate 1 and the gate insulating film 3. FIG. 2D shows the polysilicon 16 in addition to FIG. 2C.

FIG. 3A is an enlarged schematic view showing the principal portion in the step of simultaneously forming the gate electrode over the gate insulating film and the drain electrode on the drain region with a space therebetween. FIG. 3A shows the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a in addition to FIG. 2D. The width of each of the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a is 300 nm.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the polysilicon 16 is patterned by photolithography to form the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a. The distance between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a is preferably, for example, 0.2 μm to 0.3 μm. This is because the insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer fill the space between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a as described below.

FIG. 3B is an enlarged schematic view showing the principal portion in the step of implanting first impurities as low-concentration conductive impurities into the space between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a. FIG. 3B shows low-concentration impurity regions 17 subsequent to FIG. 3A. In the substrate 1, the low-concentration impurity regions 17 have a phosphorus concentration of 1.0×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ and a depth of 50 nm. In this embodiment, the first impurities are phosphorus.

As shown in FIG. 3B, phosphorus is implanted as n-type conductive impurities at a low concentration into the drain region 5 a from the space between the gate electrode 4 a and the plug 6 a using the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a as a mask to form the low-concentration impurity regions 17.

FIGS. 3C and 3D are enlarged schematic views each showing the principal portion in the step forming the insulating film 18 to fill the space. FIG. 3C shows the insulating film 18 in addition to FIG. 3B. The insulating film is composed of, for example, silicon oxide.

As shown in FIG. 3C, the insulating film 18 is thickly deposited on the surfaces of the gate electrode 4 a, the plug 6 a, and the space therebetween so as to completely fill the space.

FIG. 3D shows the insulating film 7 a constituting the first sidewall spacer and the insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer in addition to FIG. 3C. The insulating films 7 a and 7 b are composed of, for example, silicon oxide.

As shown in FIG. 3D, anisotropic etching is performed to simultaneously form the insulating film 7 a constituting the first sidewall spacer on the sidewall on the source region side of the gate electrode 4 a and the insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer on the sidewall on the drain side of the gate electrode 4 a. In this step, the space between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a is filled with the insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer.

FIG. 4A is an enlarged schematic view showing the principal portion in the step of implanting a high-concentration of conductive impurities as second impurities into the source region, the gate electrode, and the drain electrode. FIG. 4A shows the source region 8 a in addition to FIG. 3D. As shown in FIG. 4A, phosphorus ions as conductive impurities at a high concentration are implanted as the second impurities using the gate electrode 4 a, the plug 6 a, the insulating film 7 a constituting the first sidewall spacer, and the insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer as a mask to form the n-type source region 8 a having a phosphorus concentration of, for example, 5.0×10²⁰ cm⁻³ and a depth of 100 nm.

FIG. 4B is an enlarged schematic view showing the principal portion in the step of activating the first or second impurities implanted into the drain electrode 6 a and diffusing the first or second impurities from the drain electrode 6 a into the substrate by heat treatment. In this step, the impurity diffusion layer 6 b connected to the shallow drain region 5 a is formed below the drain electrode 6 a. FIG. 4B shows the drain region 5 a in addition to FIG. 4A. As shown in FIG. 4B, the first or second impurities implanted in the previous step are activated by an activation annealing treatment. At the same time, the first or second impurities diffuse inward from the surface of the substrate 1 to form the impurity diffusion layer 6 b.

FIG. 4C is an enlarged schematic view showing the principal portion in the step of forming the silicide layer on the surfaces of the source region, the gate electrode, and the drain electrode. FIG. 4C shows the cobalt silicide layer 9 in addition to FIG. 4B.

As shown in FIG. 4C, a metal film, e.g., a cobalt film, is deposited on the surface of the substrate 1, including the surfaces of the source region 8 a, the gate electrode 4 a, and the drain electrode 6 a, followed by heat treatment to form the cobalt silicide layer 9 as a metal silicide on the surfaces of the source region 8 a, the gate electrode 4 a, and the drain electrode 6 a. Then, the unreacted cobalt film is removed, and then the cobalt silicide layer 9 is converted to low-resistance phase cobalt silicide by a second heat treatment.

Then, the steps of forming the contact plugs 20 a to 20 c shown in FIG. 1A and forming an interlayer insulating film and wiring are performed to complete the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device 100 according to this embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows changes of the voltage between the source and drain regions of the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 5, the depth [μm] of the drain region 5 a is shown as abscissa, and the voltage [V] applied to the gate end when a voltage of 10 V is applied between the source 8 a and the drain electrode 6 a is shown as ordinate. In the figure, OFFSET represents the distance [μm] between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a. Further, a dotted line shows changes of the voltage when the distance between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a is 0.1 [μm], and a solid line shows changes of the voltage when the distance between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a is 0.2 [μm]. The other lines show changes of the voltage when the distance between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a is 0.3 [μm] or more.

FIG. 5 shows that when the distance between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a is 0.3 [μm] or more, the maximum value of the voltage applied to the gate end is about 3.7 [V]. In a high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device, the length of the LDD region 5 a is generally increased for reducing the electric field at the gate end. However, FIG. 5 indicates that the effect of reducing the electric field cannot be obtained even when the distance between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a is set to 0.3 [μm] or more. Also, it is desired that the distance between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a is such narrow that it is filled with the insulating film 7 a constituting the first sidewall spacer and the insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer.

Further, in the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device, the distance between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a is determined in consideration of not only the optimum value but also on-resistance having a trade-off relation to breakdown voltage. Therefore, the distance between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a can be set to 0.2 [μm] or less. In this case, the distance between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a can be filled by depositing, to 0.1 μm, the insulating film 7 a constituting the first sidewall spacer and the insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer.

In the above-mentioned structure of the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device, a LDD region is formed between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a, and thus the electric field applied to the boundary between the drain region 5 a and the channel region can be reduced. As a result, the breakdown voltage between the drain region 5 a and the substrate 1 can be increased.

The impurity diffusion region 6 b is a drain region. The drain region shallower than the source region can be formed in a self alignment manner by the step of implanting a low concentration of conductive impurities into the space between the drain electrode 6 a and the gate electrode 4 a and the step of diffusing the conductive impurities from the drain electrode 6 a into the substrate by a heat treatment. Therefore, unlike in a case in which the LDD region is formed using a mask, alignment is unnecessary, thereby improving variations in the characteristics of the semiconductor device and permitting a reduction of the gate length.

In addition, since the drain electrode 6 a and the gate electrode 4 a are formed by the same step using the mask, an alignment margin necessary for combining a plurality of mask steps become unnecessary when the distance between the drain electrode 6 a and the gate electrode 4 a is determined. Therefore, the distance between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain electrode 6 a can be securely set to an optimum value determined by a trade-off relation between the parasitic resistance and electric field reduction in the drain region 5 a.

Further, although the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device described in this embodiment is a n-type semiconductor device, the transistor may be a p-type high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device. In this case, the conductivity type in the above-described n-type high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device may be reversed.

In addition, this embodiment is not limited to the constitution and conditions described in the embodiment, and various changes can be made. For example, the impurity concentrations, depths, thicknesses, gate length, and distance length, which are described in the first embodiment, are only examples, and these values may be appropriately determined according to the required high breakdown voltage and high-frequency characteristics.

Further, the insulating film that fills the space between the gate electrode and the drain electrode serves as a silicide block. Therefore, the insulating film exhibits high compatibility with a CMOS logic process, and thus a high breakdown-voltage transistor can be manufactured without additional steps, thereby realizing integration of a power amplifier using the high breakdown-voltage transistor and a control logic circuit at a low cost.

For example, when the high breakdown-voltage transistor is used for a high-frequency power amplifier, the transistor is frequently mixed with a control CMOS logic circuit. When a RF circuit and a base band circuit are mounted on a chip in future, of course, mixing with CMOS is required. Therefore, the manufacturing method which has high compatibility with a logic CMOS process is preferred.

Second Embodiment

A high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to a second embodiment is described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B. In the high breakdown-voltage transistor according to the second embodiment, a gate electrode is formed to surround a drain region, and thus the area of the drain region can be decreased, thereby reducing the parasitic capacitance of the drain region.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of a high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6A shows a high breakdown-voltage Semiconductor device 110 including a gate electrode 4 a, a drain electrode 6 a, an insulating film 7 a constituting a first sidewall spacer, an insulating film 7 b constituting a second sidewall spacer, a source region 8 a, contact plugs 20 a for connecting wiring to the source region, contact plugs 20 b for connecting wiring to the drain electrode, and a contact plug 20 c for connecting wiring to the gate electrode 4 a. Also, a silicide layer 9 and an interlayer insulating film are formed on the surfaces of the gate electrode 4 a, the drain electrode 6 a, and the source region 8 a. In FIG. 6A, the completely same components as those shown in FIG. 1A are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in FIG. 6A, the gate electrode 4 a is formed to surround the drain electrode 6 a.

FIG. 6B is a schematic sectional view of a principal portion of the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the second embodiment, taken along line X-X′ in FIG. 6A. FIG. 6B shows the high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device 110 including a substrate 1, a p-type well region 2, a gate insulating film 3, the gate electrode 4 a, a drain region 5 a, the drain electrode 6 a, an impurity diffusion layer 6 b, the insulating film 7 a constituting the first sidewall spacer, the insulating film 7 b constituting the second sidewall spacer, the source region 8 a, the cobalt silicide layer 9, and an element separation region 12. In FIG. 6B, the completely same components as in FIG. 6A are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The high breakdown-voltage semiconductor device according to the second embodiment has the structural characteristic that the gate electrode 4 a is formed to surround the drain region 5 a and the drain electrode 6 a. In this constitution, the number of portions, for example edge region (edges) where an electric field is concentrated between the gate electrode 4 a and the drain region 5 a is inevitably decreased. Also, the area of the drain region 5 a can be decreased, and thus the parasitic capacitance of the drain region can be decreased. As a result, reduction of the electric field in the drain region 5 a can be further improved.

Typical examples of application include a high-frequency power amplifier used in a transmission portion of a mobile communication apparatus such has a cellular phone. However, the present embodiment can be used in other applications in which high breakdown voltage and high-frequency characteristics are required. 

1. A semiconductor device comprising: a gate insulating film formed over a substrate; a gate electrode over the gate insulating film; a drain region formed within the substrate on one side of the gate electrode; a drain electrode formed on the substrate and electrically connected to the drain region; a sidewall formed on the side of the gate electrode opposite to the drain electrode; and an insulating film formed between the gate electrode and the drain electrode; a source region having a grater depth than the drain region and being formed adjacent to the sidewall insulating film; wherein the drain region is aligned to the gate electrode and the drain electrode.
 2. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the drain electrode has conductive impurities.
 3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, further comprising: a silicide layer is formed on the source region, the gate electrode and the drain electrode.
 4. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the gate electrode is formed to surround the drain electrode.
 5. A semiconductor device comprising: a gate insulating film formed over a substrate; a gate electrode over the gate insulating film; a drain region formed within the substrate on one side of the gate electrode; a drain electrode formed on the substrate and electrically connected to the drain region; a sidewall formed on the side of the gate electrode opposite to the drain electrode; and an insulating film formed between the gate electrode and the drain electrode; a source region having a grater depth than the drain region and being formed adjacent to the sidewall insulating film; wherein implanting second impurities into the substrate to form a source region using the gate electrode, the drain electrode and the insulating film as a mask.
 6. The semiconductor device according to claim 5, wherein the drain electrode has conductive impurities.
 7. The semiconductor device according to claim 5, further comprising: a silicide layer is formed on the source region, the gate electrode and the drain electrode.
 8. The semiconductor device according to claim 5, wherein the gate electrode is formed to surround the drain electrode. 